The Transformation of the IT Pro

Even if you are fairly new to information technology, you can't miss the sweeping changes that are going on in IT today.

The growth of mobility, and the shift to more cloud services, promises to change the role of the IT professional even more. The folks at Microsoft put together this infographic with some details about the duties of the average IT worker since the beginning of the PC era in the 1970s, and what the job prospects will look like in 2015 and beyond.

Do you recognize any of these technologies or statistics? Do you agree with the predictions? How do you see IT changing in the coming years?

Yes, I am sure it does. But at least -- technically -- I am not bound by and compliance or regulatory guidelines that I am aware of. Just my guilty conscience and a scramble when I need to find something. ;)

I had a locked filing cabinet where we kept all our important papers. that got too small, so we got a bigger one. When that got too small, i started putting files in drawers in different places scattered around the house. So now I am mimicking what you should NOT do in a business environment -- have scattered silos of data with no cohesive architecture!

Susan: Yes, agreed – even if you have a filing cabinet, which takes up room and can attract clutter, then people have to worry about trying to keep the filed organized. This is a topic that many SMBs are trying to address in an effective manner, though I am unsure if there are any easy solutions for them.

I agree that paper has almost been there since the inception of many businesses, but it is not the most important. The data written on paper should be given more focus and making sure that data and other records are kept safe for longer periods of time should eventually force people to tear its ties with paper. What I'm saying is that though the medium changes, the data remains the same. The best medium always wins. I also see another interesting fact about IT professionals: there is almost zero of them looking back to what has gone before. This is probably because of the break-neck pace of change that forces them to look ahead more.

Susan: My biggest complaint with paper is the fact that you can end up with so much additional clutter that could be easily avoided by going digital. However, there are some things, such as contracts and official business documents, which I always want to have a paper copy of in a secured spot – which also raises new challenges, since you could easily drop a contract or confidential information on the ground, lose it, have it stolen, etc.

I find it very interesting that some of us have such a high regard for paper, even in the electronic age. That has not been my experience at all, even though I am a book-lover and an editor. Paper is just not practical and is quickly disappearing from my workplaces -- it does get used in a casual way for meetings, etc, but not for official records, and I don't see any emotional attachment to it.

Mike, I agree with you that e-records are more long lasting as they could be stored on the cloud. Both mediums have their storage problems. Paper can get damaged pretty eaisly, will be rendered unrecoverable in case of a disaster such as fire etc. While the e-records have their own set of problems. So, in essence nothing lasts forever. We just need to choose something that would make our lives easier. For me it seems like e-records is the way to go.

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